Let's build this tank! WB FRAG 145.5

ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Hi everyone! Thanks for reading and for joining me on my journey to build my first saltwater tank ever! As you will see and quickly notice throughout my posts, I'm super new to the hobby, so I apologize in advance if I say (or do!)) something stupid :p I'm learning by the day and trying to apply the knowledge shared by the reefing community, so feel free to call out anything I did (or didn't) and/or make recommendations.

So, without further ado, let me describe my system:

WaterBox Frag 145.5 (372 L/98.4 gals DT, 140 L/37.1 gals sump volume, and 41 L/10.9 gals ATO tank)
1 Vectra M2 return pump
2 VorTech MP40s
2 300W BRS Titanium heaters (1 should be enough to keep the temperature within desired limits, but I wanted to have some redundancy)

Lighting:
3 RADION XR15 G5 Blue

Filtration
Nyos Quantum Protein Skimmer 160
WB Filter socks (225 micron felt and mesh, not really sure which one I should use, though :/ )

Automation
GHL Profilux 4 mega set
GHL KH Director
GHL ION Director (eagerly waiting for delivery, but no ETA yet :rolleyes: )
GHL ATO (2 optical sensors, I will use a pump from the 2.1 doser that came with the KHD)
GHL Leak detector

Salt
TropicMarin Pro Reef

I want to have a coral dominant tank (softies and maybe LPS, because..again, I'm a beginner) , but definitely want to put some fish in the tank as well. If you have recommendations on what fish and/or corals I should being with, please let me know! I will definitely get 2 clowns, but I'm clueless on where to go from there.

My first pictures won't be too exiting but wanted to share anyway.
This is all my gear waiting to be unboxed and installed

gear.jpg


And this is my cabinet (my wife and I have a master's degree in assembling Ikea furniture, so we didn't have many problems putting the cabinet together)

cabinet.jpg


In the next couple of days, I'll have a few friends coming over my house to move the tank (which is still seating in my garage) to put it in place

tank.jpg


I purchased the CaribSea Life Rock bundle from WB, but I'm having a real hard time with my aquascape. I'm looking for some inspiration, so feel free to add pictures of your tanks, share your build threads, and/or let me know if you know some good Instagrammers I could check out for ideas.

I've been told a 1000 times that I need to set up a QT, so I'll be setting up that pretty soon as well, but definitely nothing fancy.

Till next time, happy reefing!
 

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AWESOME you purchased some great equipment for the setup I’m excited to see how things turn out!!

not sure if u will like my newest rock scape or not but this is how I designed my newest system.
40 breeder
20 long sump/ fuge
2little fishies staxx dry rock
(Marco cement was used to hold the scape in place) I have updated pics this was right when I added sw to the system.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8xXmD8j/
⬆️ Here u can see it from the side a little better this is more recent after I modded + added (2) ai prime hd lights and modded the one u see here.

GOOD LUCK WITH THE BUILD!
 

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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Thanks @Jon Patrick/jtone ! That scape looks awesome! I wish I had waited a little longer before I purchased the CaribSea Life rock bundle. Just very recently I stumbled upon aquascapes like yours. My rock bundle came with a bunch of neat pieces, including arches and what not, but IMHO it'd be close to impossible to do something like what you did with the CaribSea rock. Nonetheless, your work is still a good source of inspiration :)
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Thanks @Islandvib3s! That's an awesome tank. I see a bunch of frags in there as well as other well established corals. How old is your tank? Any recommendations on which corals I could start with? I wish mine looks at least half as nice as yours someday :)
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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My friends came over and helped me to move the tank and put it in place. It looks awesome! Work and life are getting in the way so not making as much progress as I want, but I've been told this hobby is all about patience, so this will be a big challenge for me. Here's a pic of the tank finally in place.

tank2.jpg
 

Islandvib3s

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Thanks @Islandvib3s! That's an awesome tank. I see a bunch of frags in there as well as other well established corals. How old is your tank? Any recommendations on which corals I could start with? I wish mine looks at least half as nice as yours someday :)
My tank is still a baby lol I started it this past April. But thanks! I would recommend any beginner corals. Softies,zoas,mushrooms,leathers when you can keep those alive then try LPS...after that try some euphyllia...if those work out you can try SPS. Thats the order I started and well thats where I'm at now. Lol its been through a bunch of changes,lights,flow,aquascapes so you'll learn along the way.
 

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My friends came over and helped me to move the tank and put it in place. It looks awesome! Work and life are getting in the way so not making as much progress as I want, but I've been told this hobby is all about patience, so this will be a big challenge for me. Here's a pic of the tank finally in place.

tank2.jpg
Any update? I plan on upgrading to this tank at some point in the next couple of years. Anxious to see photographs of any progress you’ve made!
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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@KalamazooReefer thanks for following up! I'm sorry for the lack of updates on my build thread. I ran into a little problem that hopefully will get fixed this weekend and should put my back on track.

I don't have much to update, but hey, what's the point of starting a build thread if I won't post updates often, right?
So, what I have done so far? Not much in my tank, but I got myself a quarantine tank. Yay!

quarantine.jpg


I used Prime and Bio-Spira to get the cycle started. I'm using a HOB SeaChem filter. I placed 4 2" MarinePure cubes because I didn't know where else the bacteria would grow. I went to my LFS and got two beautiful clownfish.

nemo1.jpg

nemo2.jpg


They been on my QT tank for a few days and they look healthy and are eating well. My goal is to have them in the QT tank for at least 21 days. I'm planning on using Dr. Tim's One and Only to cycle my tank so I hope that these little guys continue doing well by then and I will put them in my tank as indicated in the instructions. I've been checking for ammonia and the levels seem on check.


I'm still struggling with my aquascape. I placed some rocks in the tank to get a better visual on how they will like once I decide to commit, but I just don't see how in the world I can put 100lbs of rock in the tank. The tank is shallow, but certainly wider than I thought so I'll try to get creative and use the space more wisely, but I just don't see a way to put that many rock in my tank. Anyway, this is my very first attempt (apologize for the glare, still learning to take pictures of my tank)
aqua1.jpg


BTW. While looking for alternatives to filter socks, I stumbled upon Reefway and found this amazing filter floss cups that look really promising! While I can't tell you whether they actually work, I know that a lot of people said they never went back to socks after trying these out.

filtercups.jpg


I hope to be back soon with more exciting news. Cheers!
 

KalamazooReefer

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@KalamazooReefer thanks for following up! I'm sorry for the lack of updates on my build thread. I ran into a little problem that hopefully will get fixed this weekend and should put my back on track.
I don't have much to update, but hey, what's the point of starting a build thread if I won't post updates often, right?
So, what I have done so far? Not much in my tank, but I got myself a quarantine tank. Yay!

quarantine.jpg


I used Prime and Bio-Spira to get the cycle started. I'm using a HOB SeaChem filter. I placed 4 2" MarinePure cubes because I didn't know where else the bacteria would grow. I went to my LFS and got two beautiful clownfish.

nemo1.jpg

nemo2.jpg


They been on my QT tank for a few days and they look healthy and are eating well. My goal is to have them in the QT tank for at least 21 days. I'm planning on using Dr. Tim's One and Only to cycle my tank so I hope that these little guys continue doing well by then and I will put them in my tank as indicated in the instructions. I've been checking for ammonia and the levels seem on check.


I'm still struggling with my aquascape. I placed some rocks in the tank to get a better visual on how they will like once I decide to commit, but I just don't see how in the world I can put 100lbs of rock in the tank. The tank is shallow, but certainly wider than I thought so I'll try to get creative and use the space more wisely, but I just don't see a way to put that many rock in my tank. Anyway, this is my very first attempt (apologize for the glare, still learning to take pictures of my tank)
aqua1.jpg


BTW. While looking for alternatives to filter socks, I stumbled upon Reefway and found this amazing filter floss cups that look really promising! While I can't tell you whether they actually work, I know that a lot of people said they never went back to socks after trying these out.

filtercups.jpg


I hope to be back soon with more exciting news. Cheers!
Thanks for the update! Love it. The clownfish look great. I’d count this as definite progress. As far as the aquascape goes, I really like what you’ve got there. The only way I could think to add more rock would be to start very low nearer to the glass, and then build “up” as you move inward. But the old rule of 1 pound of rock per gallon of water has been basically debunked, from what I understand. Modern filtration makes very large amounts of live rock less crucial. Those filter floss cups are awesome. I have never loved the idea of the socks, so I’m thrilled you shared this. As you know, I’m carefully planning my own future tank, and it’s great to watch someone with the exact same overall setup that I want, build out their system. Thanks for being my Guinea pig! Ha!
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Hello everyone and happy new year!

I know it's been a LONG time since my last post, so I wanted to share with you a few updates.

After spending a lot of time rethinking and redoing my aquascape, I finally placed the rock in a way that I liked. This is how my aquascape looked like before I put in in the tank. I used E-Marco 400 to bond the rock.

aquascape-dry.jpg


I liked the idea of having a couple of little islands, where I could place corals that tend to grow fast and use all the rock space.

I filled my tank with RODI, and mixed the salt (Tropic Marin Pro). I know that a lot of folks like to put rock, sand and then water, while others recommend water, rock, and then sand. In my case I had to go with the latter because I just have 2 20g containers and while my RODI system is theoretically capable of generating 150GPD, I didn't want to fill containers and mix the sand several times.

Once I got 1.025 SG, was time to move the rock into the tank. Unfortunately, once I started placing the rocks into the tank, two things happened: 1) The cement was not strong enough in a couple of the joints, and 2) the rock didn't fit exactly, so I had to make a few changes. Nothing major, but I had to remove the large island that I had placed at the middle. One of the main reasons I had to make such changes, was because even though the rock would fit, it would have been way too close to the glass. Nonetheless, I was pretty happy with the result. Once the rock was in place, I added the sand, and this is how my tank looked like a few hours after. Awesome, right??

tank-sand.jpg



I also spent a good amount of time trying to connect all the gear as clean and neat as possible. The 3 XR15 Radions were easy to install, as well as the 2 MP40s and the return pump. I have a little of OCD, but definitely not enough to put way too much time on the wiring. I just wanted it to look clean and as little messy as possible.

wiring.jpg


I placed the AC adapters, cables, and power bars on the left side of the cabinet. Even though the ATO reservoir goes there, there's still plenty of room for all the connections. I have 2 GHL power bars, giving me a total of 12 sockets, more than enough for all the gear that I've got. I used heavy dutty velcro tape to secure everything on the panels.

I plan to put chaeto in the refugium chamber, so I had to use the removable baffle. For those who might be thinking on doing this, keep in mind that the skimmer chamber size will be significantly reduced. In my case, I only had room for the skimmer, reactor and fortunatally was able to fit my heater, but there's zero room for anything else in the future. This is a picture of the skimmer chamber without the removable plate.
skimmer-no-plate.jpg


And this is with the plate
skimmer-plate.jpg


I don't like the fact that I have no easy access to the skimmer chamber, but unfortunately that's the real estate you end up with once you put the removable baffle.

I was able to setup my Profilux 4 and it's already controlling my BRS heater. Kudos to the GHL guys for the thorough and very clear videos. It was easy to follow even for someone like me that have never used a controller before (I have 20+ years of experience writing software, though, so maybe that helped a bit :)

profilux.jpg


As I mentioned earlier, I used CaribSea rock and sand. The sand comes with a biomagnet clarifier that is supposed to clear the water in a matter of hours. I did follow the instructions and it didn't help much. That said, after ~24 hours, my tank looked liked this :D

tank-clear.jpg

tank-clear2.jpg


I'm super happy with the progress so far. I will start the cycle tomorrow with Dr Tim's One and Only. I hope it does work as advertised. These are just some of the things that I still need to do

Calibrate ORP, PH and salinity probes
Setup ATO (with GHL Pump and optical sensors)
Setup GHL KH Director

That will keep me busy for the new few days, but I'll try to post an update pretty soon.

Till next time, happy reefing!
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Well, I knew that eventually something was going to go wrong. I've been trying for hours to setup my ATO with GHL but it seems that the pumps on the doser are not powerful enough to pull and push a lot of water to move it from my ATO reservoir into my sump. I'm barely getting a few drops per second. My Profilux and Doser are next to my cabinet. The length of the tubing from the doser to the reservoir is ~4 feet and from the doser to the sump is ~6 feet. I used the silicone tubing that came with the doser.

I did a little experiment with one of the other pumps in the doser but this time I cut two short pieces of RO tubing, but unfortunately I also got just a few drops, so unless I'm doing something wrong, it seems that the doser can't really be used for ATOs because the pumps are not powerful enough. I already asked for help on the GHL Facebook group, hopefully someone will provide some information and guidance.

I'm a bit disappointed since I really wanted to use GHL for all my automation. The good news is that I have a Tunze ATO pump that I bought for a corals QT tank that I'm setting up in parallel (as if one tank wasn't enough :p). If I can't make the GHL doser work, I'll install the Tunze.
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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I've been keeping an eye to see how often the doser turns on/off to keep the water level on my sump, and in my opinion, the numbers are staggering: more than 800 times in a single day! The pump is dosing in average every 3 minutes, although I see in many instances back to back dosings (within seconds).

Here's today's chart. You can see that the doser was active all day long
ghl-doser-chart.png


ghl-doser-detail.png


I personally believe that the GHL Doser should not be used for ATO purposes on medium or large tanks. I'm not saying it can't fulfill the purpose, but it comes at a really high cost: the motor is basically running all day long and the motor will therefore wear out very quickly. GHL themselves warn you that the life span of the parts depends on the use frequency.

(taken from https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/ghl-doser-2-manual/)
Page 18:
doser-manual.png


Imagine what can 800 dosings a day can do to the motor? I will definitely install my Tunze osmolator and see how often it runs, but my gut tells me that it won't be as often as the GHL doser is running.
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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nice build ! Following along. Any updates ?
Hi Nelson! Welcome to the thread and thanks for following :)

I know I've neglected my build thread a bit and haven't updated much, but the truth is that I'm sort of currently stuck with the cycling process.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I decided to use Dr Tim's One and Only to cycle my tank. Right when I started doing my research about saltwater aquariums a few months ago, I quickly stumbled upon lots of comments and threads from folks that had used that product and on the surface, it seemed they all had gotten great results, so I didn't think twice and didn't look further or considered another product (I now regret that decision, but hey, you never stop learning on this hobby).

I started my cycle 12 days ago. I calculated 100 gallons for dosing purposes (full system is 135 gallons but I factored in sand and rock), which means a full dose of ammonia would be 400 drops (the instructions indicate that I should dose 4 drops per gallon). This is what has happened during those days

DayphNH3/NH4NO2NO3Notes
1Added bacteria bottle and half the ammonia dose (200 drops) as indicated in the instructions because I used CaribSea live sand.
27.60.80.05
3Added full dose of ammonia (400 drops). The instructions do not indicate whether you should continue using just half dose.
47.720.2
57.720.5
67.8921The instructions say that on day 6 you should add drops again, but I didn't add more because ammonia didn't go down
77.891.21
87.821.21
97.850.8120I decided to check for Nitrates for the first time. I honestly don't know if the high nitrites can yield a false reading on the nitrates, though.
107.930.2 - 0.41
117.870 - 0.21
127.810120 - 50

Some might say that the cycle is going great and mother nature is doing its thing, and while I agree that it's great to see ammonia finally at 0 on day 12, I'm certainly disappointed that Dr Tim's One and Only didn't work the way I thought it would (the cycle was supposed to be done by day 14, and there's no way that's gonna happen with the levels of nitrites on my tank). I am now aware of multiple cases where other fellow hobbyists have had similar issues and are mostly attributed to ammonia overdosing by following the instructions and adding 4 drops per gallon. For now, I know that all I can do is sit and wait until nitrites go down.

This is today's test result and how the water sample has looked like for the last 7 days when I have tested for nitrites. The water turns dark purple within seconds of adding the reagent, I don't even have to wait for the 9 minutes.

nitrites-day12.jpg


Today I checked again for NO3 and couldn't tell whether it was 20 or 50, or something in between :p Thoughts?
nitrates-day12.jpg


That said, I have other things to report though.

As I mentioned on my previous posts, I tried using the GHL Doser 2.1 for ATO but it was a fiasco. The pump kept dosing every few minutes and just a few drops and I got tired of listening the doser going on and off all day long (the tank is my home office), and while I have to admit that it's pretty quiet, it was just too annoying. I decided to use a Tunze Osmolator 3155 instead and so far has been great, although it is certainly much louder than the GHL Doser, but it only runs a few times a day and just for a few seconds to top off.

tunze.jpg


I really wanted to use the GHL Doser 2.1 since I really liked having a detailed log of when the doser was topping off and how much RODI was dosing. Since the Tunze Osmolator is connected to one of the sockets in my power bar, all I can tell at a given moment is whether the switch is on or off, and how much amperage is being used (if the socket is on), but the GHL Profilux does not keep record of when the socket goes on and off, and of course you don't know how much water is being dosed. AFAIK, GHL is working on the next generation of the maxidoser and I might get one for ATO in the future, that way I can actually use the GHL optical sensors that I purchased for this purpose.

I have not setup my KH Director yet, but it is certainly my next big project. I'm also going to install a CO2 scrubber for my skimmer since my PH is staying at 7.8 ~ 7.9 and I've seen it going up a bit when I open the windows (which I can't keep open for long during this time of the year due to the really cold whether). This is the one I got from saltwateraquarium.com (https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/medium-co2-protein-skimmer-air-scrubber-icecap/) A bit pricier that other options, but I really liked the form factor and reviews are great.

co2.jpg


Once I'm done with the KH Director and CO2 scrubber, my big next project will be to install my UV sterilizer :D

I got the Pentair 25w a few weeks ago and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to connect all the tubing. What I know for sure, is that I will use vynil and not hard pluming. Given that I'm going all GHL, I also purchased a flow sensor to make sure my UV is getting the right flow. While I could have used one of the manifolds from the return pump pipe, I want to feed my UV with its own pump, so I purchased a Reef Octopus VarioS-2 Controllable DC Pump (792 GPH). In summary, what I will use for my UV setup is:


Since there's no much space left under the cabinet, I plan to install the UV sterilizer vertically (AFAIK, this is the recommended way) right next to the sump. The height of the sterilizer is just perfect (an extra inch and it wouldn't fit).
uv.jpg



And that's it for today! I hope to report better news regarding my cycle on my next post :)

Cheers!
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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This is a short but encouraging update (at least for me)

Finally, after waiting 18 days, nitrites are going down! I hate the color cards because many times you have to guesstimate, but it seems my nitrites are between 0.2 and 0.5!

n02-day18-1.jpg


no2-day18-2.jpg


I reached out to Dr Tim's support on Instagram a few days ago because I really was getting a bit impatient (I know, I know, this hobby is all about patience) and they recommended doing a 25% water change, which I did 3 days ago. I tested the levels the next day after the water change and nitrites were still at 1 :mad: That was really discouraging. Given that my ammonia had been 0 for several days already, I decided to add 1 drop of ammonia per gallon just to see whether it'd go to 0 on the next day. To my surprise, I got 0.2 24 hrs later, so maybe it was a good thing to add the drops to keep feeding the bacteria so that it continues to reproduce. The next day, ammonia was already at 0 (yay!) but nitrites were still 1, but that finally changed today. I have no clue whether the ammonia drops helped in any way to lower nitrites, but I'm glad I did it.

It's also very interesting to see nitrates going down after 3 days. I'd expect those to go up since nitrites are going down. Before the water change, I'm sure my nitrates were between 20 and 50, and 48 hrs after the water change I got the same results, but today they seem lower (between 10 and 20). I was expecting to see less nitrates right after the water change, not 3 days after, and I can't really explain why this happened.

no3-day18.jpg


My mind was so focused on the water tests that I wasn't really in the mood to setup my KH Director, but I feel a bit more motivated now so I will make that my weekend project. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

Until then, Happy reefing!
 
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Huge milestone to celebrate today and I wanted to share with you guys :)

Finally my tank cycled. Both ammonia and nitrites went to 0 after adding 1 drop of Dr Tim's ammonium chloride. Therefore, I decided that it was time to transfer my 2 clownfish from the QT to my tank!

PXL_20220127_051324831.MP.jpg


PXL_20220126_231630647.MP.jpg


They have been exploring the tank and seem pretty happy in their new home :) I'll take this slowly but I'm already thinking on what will be the next addition to my tank, but most likely it will be some beginner corals and perhaps clean up crew.

I didn't set up my KH Director during the weekend as I had expected. Instead, I started setting up my skimmer. As mentioned earlier, I'm using a Nyos 160. I can say that I'm not impressed so far. It's pretty noisy and makes an annoying humming sound that I can't get rid off. All I'm hoping for now is that the noise will go away once the skimmer breaks in.

I also spent time designing the pluming of my UV and just put an large order on BRS. I ended up deciding to actually do hard pluming. This will be my very first time doing such a project, so it will be interesting to see the end result. All the parts should arrive mid next week, so I'll keep you posted.

Cheers!
 
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